Gypsy Souls return to city where they started for a weekly gig after Music on Main

Thursday

Apr 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM

When the members of Gypsy Souls arrived for their gig last Thursday night at Main Street Pub, they weren't sure what to expect.

By DAN ARMONAITISdan.armonaitis@shj.com

When the members of Gypsy Souls arrived for their gig last Thursday night at Main Street Pub, they weren't sure what to expect.It had been a few years since the collective of local musicians last played Spartanburg and, to make matters worse, the weather outside was lousy.But it didn't take long for the Gypsy Souls to realize everything was going to be fine. As the talented musicians tore through an opening set of hi-octane jazz, funk and soul, the crowd grew bigger and increasingly more attentive.“That was such a great first night,” bassist Frank Wilkie said. “If that's the way it's going to be on short notice and with really bad weather, I can hardly wait to see what it's going to be like moving forward.”For the past three years, the Gypsy Souls have played every Thursday night at the Brown Street Club in Greenville. But when that venue unexpectedly closed a few weeks ago, the group decided to bring its weekly jam back to Spartanburg, where it all began.The members of Gypsy Souls hope Main Street Pub will become a primary gathering spot for local music fans looking for something to do following Music on Main, the city's weekly outdoor concert series held a few hundred feet away.“There aren't many clubs in Spartanburg that give bigger bands an outlet to do their thing,” trumpet player Craig Sorrells said. “That's why we were especially excited that Main Street Pub was willing to jump on board with us and have us every week.“I'm looking forward to building Thursday night up into a monster like Tuesday was at the Nu-Way.”Sorrells was referring to the weekly gig that the Gypsy Souls had at Spartanburg's oldest continuously operating bar in the early to mid-2000s.“Back then, every Tuesday was a special thing,” Sorrells said. “It was like these crazy fireworks would happen every single night. There were no limitations. Everybody would just jump up there and take risks and try all kinds of different things musically. There were moments at every show where we'd all just look at each other and go, ‘Wow, that was awesome.' ”

For its first Main Street Pub gig last Thursday, the Gypsy Souls featured Wilkie and Sorrells, along with drummer Tez Sherard and guitarists Kym MacKinnon and Troy House. Its revolving lineup also includes, from time to time, such local music heavyweights as trombonist Brad Jepson and guitarist Shane Pruitt.“You never know who'll show up,” Wilkie said. “I remember back at the Nu-Way, we'd sometimes have three drummers show up, and we'd set up three drum kits.”Spontaneity is the name of the game for the Gypsy Souls, who have become masters of crowd-pleasing improvisation.“It can get loud and rowdy and chaotic, but that's what has made it what it is today,” Sherard said. “It's not very regimented or too well thought out. Well, there's just enough thought and enough love in it for it to be good music, but mostly it's just about having fun and letting loose.”Typically, the Gypsy Souls feed off the audience for inspiration.“Over the years, we've kind of developed an ability to read the crowd, and they'll let us know where we need to go with the show,” Sorrells said. “Every night is different, and things just seem to happen organically.”Wilkie, a veteran of such renowned groups as the Marshall Tucker Band and Garfeel Ruff, said that the Gypsy Souls is more than just a band.“It's not so much a band as it is a movement to kind of unite all of these local kindred musical spirits who have the same kind of background or interest in music,” he said.